


tomorrow (we'll do it again)

by seungminis



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Airports, Because I said so., Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, FML, Flashbacks, M/M, Mentioned polyamory, Multi, Non-Linear Narrative, Oh also, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, chan i know you're watching, correction:, cute dates, happy belated birthday jem!, happy birthday jem!, hi, hyunjin treats him to a great date, or as i like to say it to piss yall off: a gr8 d8 m8, school is a meanie and wouldn't let me finish on time, so basically seungmins been gone for six months, so um, so when he comes back, somewhat non linear narrative, studying abroad, there's an ice cream parlor called red velvet, this is seungjin centric lol, you see i'm updating these tags as i'm writing the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seungminis/pseuds/seungminis
Summary: “So you’re not curious where we’re going?” Hyunjin asked, slightly surprised the younger hadn’t given him the “Seungminnie meong” eyes and forced him to spill all his ideas for the date, thoughts about his life, and ambitions for their relationship.Seungmin’s lips curled up softly as he gently shook his head,“Surprise me.”or: Seungmin's back in Korea after 6 months of studying abroad. Hyunjin is glad to be home.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Minor Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know - Relationship, Minor Han Jisung | Han/Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Very Minor Seo Changbin/Jung Wooyoung
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	tomorrow (we'll do it again)

**Author's Note:**

> **sighs loudly, disappointed in self**  
>  @JEM I am SO SORRY for taking forever on this fic I'm a solid 12 days late :(  
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU LEGEND, MY NAME TWIN I LOVE YOU (NOT IN THAT WAY, MILES WOULD KILL ME BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)  
> <3333333
> 
> school is a meanie just saying! teachers please learn to coordinate!
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoy the fic everyone! some general notes:  
> this fic was inspired by do it again by R5, so i totally recommend listening to that~  
> during the whole high school flashback: starts march 2016, ends when it's aug 2022 again, play inner child by BTS! that's the song i listened to while writing that part~  
> and then the hurt comfort part (dec 2021), play The Story by Sara Ramirez bc i looped that while writing that!
> 
> EDIT 9/8/2020: hi im late for my chem test, but w**j*n has been replaced with the superior wonpil. 
> 
> <3

_[There you are, standing with all your friends. So I wait til you’re alone again. And the minutes feel like eternity. ]_

_August 2022_

Sometimes, Hyunjin wished Seungmin didn’t like roses. 

Of course, if his boyfriend was returning after six long, tortuous (for Hyunjin) months of studying abroad in Los Angeles, he would obviously be of basic courtesy and get a giant bouquet of Seungmin’s favorite flower to welcome him back to Seoul, and then ask him out on a grand _welcome back to Seoul_ date. Unfortunately for him, Seungmin’s favorite flowers were roses.

“Ouch,” the 22 year old muttered, as he constantly transferred the bouquet between his hands so the thorns would stop poking him. In retrospect, maybe he should have bought thorn-free roses, but he already wasted twenty bucks on this elaborately arranged bouquet, so he smiled through the pain, hissing under his breath as the thorns poked the soft,sensitive skin between his fingers.

“Jesus, Jin, quit being dramatic,” Jisung, one of Seungmin’s best friends and Hyunjin’s best frenemy (the two used to fight too much to be considered healthy), groaned. The younger boy had “reluctantly” accompanied Hyunjin on a ride to the airport so he could see his best friend (Seungmin) and his boyfriends, Felix and Jeongin, who went abroad with Seungmin. 

Now, the two were sitting by a giant glass window in the arrivals section of the airport, waiting patiently for the three boys, whose flight had just recently landed. Jisung had two giant balloons tied to the armrest of the chair next to him and he raised an eyebrow teasingly at the ravenette sitting next to him, as he silently judged Hyunjin’s pain and misery. (Though Hyunjin couldn’t really take Jisung seriously with balloons having “Welcome back, honey pie!” written on them floating behind him). 

Hyunjin scoffed at the blonde, “I’m far from dramatic. Try holding these flowers yourself.”

Jisung forced a smile, “Of course, drama queen,” he said with a thick, almost toxic, sweetness tinging his voice as he received the flowers from Hyunjin, only to wince when a thorn poked the skin between his thumb and index finger. 

“Kay, I held it. Take it back now.”

Hyunjin shrugged, “Eh, you can hold it a little longer. I’m going to go eavesdrop and see where the new arrivals are from. Minnie, Lix and Innie should be done with customs by now. Bye bye!” 

Jisung’s jaw unhinged as he sputtered, “Come on, man. This isn’t cool!” 

Hyunjin smiled sweetly in response, “Neither are you.” 

With that, the tall lanky boy sauntered over to the wooden divider that divided where the waiting area was and where landed passengers exited the airport. He saw two girls squeal and embrace next to him and he casually and subtly cocked his head to catch a better listen.

“Yeji! How was LA?” 

“Oh my gosh, it was amazing! But I’m so glad to be home, with you, ‘Jin.” 

He smiled softly at the sweet (slightly gay) exchange between the two girls.

Then, the information actually registered in Hyunjin’s brain and his eyes widened as realization hit him like a freight train. That girl was coming from Los Angeles. Passengers from Los Angeles were exiting the airport. That only meant one thing:

Seungmin’s _home._

For the first time in six months, Hyunjin will get to see Seungmin’s radiant smile, topped off with sparkling eyes and soft giggles, in person.

For the first time in six months, he’ll get to hold his boyfriend in his arms.

For the first time in six months, he’ll get to share a kiss with Seungmin and he’ll be able to experience the electricity that sparked in the air whenever that happened.

For the first time in six months, there’ll be no long distance video calls distorted by crappy wifi and sleep deprivation.

For the first time in six months, they could go on a date. (Hyunjin made sure that this date would be the best one ever).

For the first time in six months, Seungmin would be _home_ , and he’d be there to stay.

Hyunjin gulped as he felt his heart begin to pound violently against his ribcage and sweat beginning to bead up on his palms. He vigorously wiped it against his ripped jeans as he let out a shaky breath. 

_Oh dear god, what if everything’s different?_

  
  


_[All these words, buried inside my heart. Every step, feels like the hardest part. And the last six feet are going to kill me.]_

In Hyunjin’s defense, despite dating Seungmin for 5 years, they had never done long distance before, before now. They had just wrapped up 6 months of long distance and Hyunjin was ninety eight percent sure things were bound to be different. What if Seungmin decided he was better off on his own? What if Seungmin left Hyunjin because he wasn’t interested in a relationship? Hyunjin glanced over at where Jisung was sighing boredly, slumped over in his chair. Jisung tiredly looked over at Hyunjin and saw the frantic look on Hyunjin’s face, before he gasped (and maybe fell out of his chair). The blonde quickly hopped back on his feet, carefully setting Hyunjin’s bouquet where he was sitting and attempting to untie the balloons he purchased.

Hyunjin held back a snicker at how ridiculous Jisung looked. No matter how nervous he was, he could always count on the younger for an opportunity to laugh at someone, one hundred percent guaranteed. 

Just then the automatic doors leading from customs slid open and Hyunjin saw Jeongin and Felix walking hand in hand. A grin grew on his face as he waved at the duo, and when their eyes fell upon him they smiled excitedly and waved too, speeding up their pace to go greet their friend.  
  


Meanwhile Jisung had scurried over with the balloons, bouquet and a lovesick smile on his face as his boyfriends approached him and Hyunjin. When they reached the two, Jisung didn’t hesitate to wrap the two in a hug, pressing a soft kiss to both their cheeks.

“I hate you guys.” Jisung started, “You left me for too long.” 

Felix giggled, nose scrunching up cutely, “We missed you too, Sungie.”

Jeongin nodded, “We even missed your sloppiness,” and Jisung replied with a gasp in mock offense: “I’m wounded Innie, you hit me in a weak spot.” 

Jisung then handed the duo the balloons he got for them, which resulted in Felix gasping in delighted surprise and Jeongin smiling softly, despite roasting Jisung, saying “I’m not 5, dumbass”. (Yes, Jeongin is a tsundere. Jisung and Felix manage the best they can). 

Hyunjin felt bad for interrupting their sweet (in some weird, convoluted tsundere way) moment, but Seungmin hadn’t come out of the airport yet, and Hyunjin was concerned. Jeongin read the look on Hyunjin’s face before smiling understandingly.

“Seungmin should be out of customs by now. He had to get his bags checked since he brought, like, 20 bags of Flaming Hot Cheetos.” he said before directing his attention back to roasting Jisung in person.

Hyunjin heaved out a sigh in relief before laughing gently at his boyfriend’s adorable antics and he directed his gaze back towards the automatic doors as they slid open. The moment he saw who was walking out of customs, Hyunjin’s eyes widened as his heart rate sped up again. 

There Seungmin was, just as beautiful as Hyunjin remembered from their last video call, though this Seungmin was 4K HD, compared to his 240 pixel video quality caused by crappy wifi when they were doing long distance. His boyfriend had his earbuds in ( _probably listening to Day6,_ Hyunjin thought fondly) and his hands were shoved in the pockets of his oversized blue hoodie as he mouthed along to what he was listening to.

Seungmin pushed his blonde bangs out of his face as he meticulously scanned the giant arrivals hall, before his sparkling chocolate eyes met Hyunjin’s from across the room, and the camera in Hyunjin’s mind immediately captured the way the younger stopped mouthing lyrics as his face lit up upon eye contact. 

Hyunjin couldn’t stop himself from smiling widely like an idiot as he quickly moved over to where the passengers who arrived could walk past the barriers, as he couldn’t wait any longer to scoop Seungmin into his arms. Seungmin seemed to feel the same way as he ditched his bags, yanked out his earbuds and quickened his pace, until Hyunjin realized the both of them were basically running towards each other like people do in those cliche rom coms.

Hyunjin didn’t mind, though.

He held his arms open as Seungmin practically _flew_ into them, throwing his arms around Hyunjin’s neck as Hyunjin’s arms instinctively wrapped around Seungmin’s waist, like they always did. Hyunjin’s heart ached at the fact that Seungmin was finally here. Seungmin giggled as Hyunjin spun him around before setting the younger back down and Seungmin happily hooked his chin on Hyunjin’s shoulder, sighing:

“I missed you so much, Jinnie.” 

Hyunjin could feel his smile grow, if that was even possible as he murmured back, “I missed you too, Minnie. Welcome home.” 

Hyunjin could hear applause and cat calls coming from Jisung and Co., as Seungmin leaned away from Hyunjin’s shoulder to a) throw a stink eye at Jisung, who chose not to shut up and b) smile warmly at Hyunjin and Hyunjin’s heart fluttered. 

_Man_ , he missed that smile so much.

_Man,_ he also missed kissing Seungmin.

Hyunjin glanced down at Seungmin’s lips which looked so soft and inviting, lips practically _begging_ for Hyunjin to kiss them. Hyunjin’s eyes flicked back up to meet Seungmin’s eyes as he asked, “Can I kiss you?” 

Seungmin snorted, “I don’t know, can you?” 

“I think I can.” Hyunjin smirked, as he gently grabbed Seungmin’s face with both hands, swooping in and capturing Seungmin’s lips in a tender, yet energizing kiss. Seungmin practically melted as the two relished that electric feeling of being in each others’ arms and finally sharing a kiss after so long. Seungmin had parts of Hyunjin’s ironed button up bunched up in his fists, wrinkling in the fabric, but Hyunjin couldn’t care less.

Maybe Jisung, Felix and Jeongin whooped even louder. Maybe Seungmin and Hyunjin tuned them out. 

The two eventually seperated with infectious grins, before Seungmin seemed to perk up in surprise and realization.

“Crap, my bags are still over there.” he quickly murmured, gesturing towards the automatic doors where his purple suitcase with Day6 stickers sat patiently, waiting for Seungmin to pick it up, and Hyunjin chuckled.

“You’re so cute.” 

The couple made their way over to Seungmin’s bag, collecting it, before heading over to Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin. Jisung held his arms out for a hug and Seungmin gladly accepted, quickly bro-hugging his best friend and Jisung smiled.

“I missed ya, Min! You left me with your floopy boyfriend for six months!”

Seungmin snorted in amusement before his eyes fell upon the bouquet in Jisung’s hands and his face lit up. Jisung noticed, and quickly handed the bouquet to Hyunjin, who winced at the contact with the thorny stems again. Hyunjin gracefully handed over the bouquet to Seungmin (or at least attempted to do so), and Seungmin gladly accepted, smiling as he took in the smell of the roses.

“Some roses for my rose,” Hyunjin tried flirting and Seungmin raised an eyebrow at the ravenette. “You’re so cheesy. But I love the roses!” 

Hyunjin smiled, “That’s not all.”

“Not all?” Seungmin questioned, “What could possibly be left?” 

“This,” Hyunjin started, “Will you, Kim Seungmin, go on a welcome-back date with me?”

Jeongin choked on the bottle of water his was drinking, surprised at Hyunjin’s out of the ordinary question. Felix squealed under his breath, and Jisung smiled fondly at his boyfriends’ behaviors. 

Seungmin cocked his head to the side, like a lost puppy, as he gave Hyunjin a strange look, but not in a negative way, “Hyunjin, you _do_ realize I’m your boyfriend, right? Of course, I’ll go on a date with you, you floop!

Hyunjin clapped his hands excitedly, “Awesome! It’s going to be the diddly darndest bestest date you’ve ever gone on.”

Seungmin chuckled, “Well, I guess I’m looking forward to it then, cutie. Also bestest isn’t a word.”

Jeongin interrupted the two’s banter.

“You guys are _gross_.” 

_A week later_

The chime of a doorbell snapped a red haired barista out of his thoughts as he stopped mopping the floor behind the counter in the small cafe he ran. He glanced up and smiled a cheshire-like grin as he saw that the person entering the cafe was none other than his boyfriend, along with one of his close friends.

“Channie! Hyunjin! Hi!” he exclaimed, as his boyfriend, Chan, bounded over and glomped him. The redhead winced at the sudden hug, but chuckled it off as Chan pressed a big, fat kiss to his cheek.

“Hi Minho,” Chan greeted. The barista, Minho, smiled as he greeted Chan in return. “Hi Channie.” 

Before the older couple could get anymore sappy and gross with each other Hyunjin conveniently cleared his throat, directing Minho’s attention away from Chan (much to the blonde’s dismay) and towards the taller male.

“Hey, Hyunjin! How are you and Seungmin? Didn’t he come back?” 

Hyunjin nodded happily. “I’m taking him out on a date today!” 

Minho clapped his hands excitedly, “That’s awesome! When?”

Hyunjin glanced over at the pink accent wall of the cafe where a white analog clock hung. _7:30 PM,_ it read and Hyunjin said, “In thirty minutes.” 

“Well aren’t you going to get ready?” Minho asked and Hyunjin shook his head. “I already am.”

“Oh.” the elder stated simply and Hyunjin began to panic, “Why, do I look bad?” . Minho immediately shook his head, trying to soothe the high-strung boy. “No, no honey, I just thought that you’re a little underdressed to take Seungmin out to a restaurant.” he said honestly, but calmly, and Hyunjin chuckled.

“I’m not taking him to a restaurant.” 

Minho perked up in intrigue. 

“You’re not?”

“I’m not” Hyunjin confirmed with a sure nod. Minho couldn’t help but question:

“What _are_ you doing then?”

“I’d like to know that too,” Chan added from the cabinet to which he had ventured over to steal donuts from. 

“You’ll see,” Hyunjin said with a sly smile. “I just came for a donut, not your advice.” 

A dead silence filled the room as Minho’s eyes dangerouly narrowed at Hyunjin, the latter shrinking away in slight fear. Minho smiled sweetly, then, before heading over to the cabinet Chan was raiding, pulling out a donut and tossing it into a to-go bag, handing it to Hyunjin who trepidly took it.

“Thanks, hyung.” he squeaked before quickly making his way to the door and dashing out before Minho could kick his ass. Hyunjin wanted to live to see his date, after all. 

Minho let out a fond sigh, “Why do we adopt these fools as our children again, Channie?” 

He turned to Chan who had powdered sugar covering his lips and fingers, eyes wide and body frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. The elder took a quick lick at one of his sugary fingers before shrugging. Minho giggled, “You’re a mess, let’s get you cleaned up.” 

[ _I’ll pick you up at eight and we can drive around. I’ll take you to the beach and we can head downtown, while you hold my hand.]_

Hyunjin patted his patched jean jacket’s pocket as he drove his convertible to make sure his gift for Seungmin was safe and secure and at no risk of falling out onto the road and being smushed by a pick-up truck.

(Yes, Hyunjin had vividly seen that scenario unfold in his head. Frankly, it was traumatizing - it kept him awake for a solid four hours one night.) 

Thankfully, the necklace was still intact in his pocket, so the ravenette directed his eyes back on the road as the car screeched to a halt outside the complex where his and Seungmin’s shared apartment was. He keyed off the ignition and gracefully got out of the convertible, before tripping over a rock and losing his balance for a hot second, flailing like a balloon man in a car dealership. Thankfully, he didn’t faceplant on the concrete beneath his feet - that would have been disastrous.

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon of the Seoul skyline that was visible from their small apartment and Hyunjin sighed contentedly; it was nice and quiet in this part of Seoul for once, and with the sunset, Hyunjin felt all nervousness about this date wash away.

Then he remembered, he still had a date to go on, so he quickly bolted up four flights of stairs, hand firmly placed over his pocket as he ran, before he dashed down three adjacent corridors, ending up at apartment 0922, his and Seungmin’s apartment. He rapped on the door three times and the nasally, honey voice of Seungmin’s arose from the other side of the light-colored wooden door. 

“Coming!” the boy called, and Hyunjin could feel himself getting giddier. Boy, was Seungmin in for quite a few surprises today. 

The door cautiously creaked open as Seungmin peeked through the chainbolted door. (Their apartment door didn’t have a peephole, much to the paranoid couple’s dismay). The blonde’s eyes widened as he saw Hyunjin smiling a lovesick grin standing in front of their apartment. 

“Is it eight already?” Seungmin questioned, surprised, as he quickly shut the door and removed the chainbolt, before opening the door all the way, revealing him in all his full glory, holding a bunched up extra pair of clothes that Hyunjin told him to bring. Hyunjin embraced Seungmin before pulling away and answering the younger’s question. 

“Yep, and I’m here to whisk you away from reality and take you to date-land.” he joked and Seungmin lightly smacked Hyunjin on the arm. 

“Well I’m ready to go to date-land!” Seungmin grinned and Hyunjin took this time to quickly eye his love up and down, and he swore he heard his heart choke, because it never knew Seungmin could rock a yellow sweater and ripped boyfriend jeans like that. Hyunjin smiled warmly, and laughed, “Well, let’s get the first thing over with then!” 

Seungmin cocked his head, “And what exactly _is_ that first thing?”

“This,” Hyunjin replied, before digging in his pocket and pulling out the matching couples’ necklace he got for Seungmin. He handed it to the younger, who gasped in delight as he received and scrutinized over it, admiring every teensy little detail. The necklace had a small infinity sign pendant with _HHJ_ engraved on one of the two loops that made up the infinity sign, and _KSM_ engraved on the the other.

“This is amazing, Jin!” Seungmin squealed before taking the necklace and clasping it so it hung on his neck. Hyunjin took a sharp inhale in before joining in the squealing, pulling his copy of the necklace, which he was already wearing, from where it got hidden behind the collar of his shirt “And we’re matching!”

Seungmin seemed to get even more excited, giving Hyunjin a quick, tight hug. Hyunjin laughed as he ruffled the younger’s hair.

“You ready to go?” he asked and Seungmin nodded like a hyperactive puppy. 

“Hell yes.” 

The two of them made their way out of the apartment, Seungmin making sure to lock the door behind him before they walked downstairs and out of the building, fingers intertwined as they approached Hyunjin’s red convertible.

Hyunjin fondly remembered when he first showed it off to Seungmin, and Seungmin freaked out, asking just how much money Hyunjin blew on it. Fortunately, the younger grew attached to the car, naming it Scarlet, and babying it just like Hyunjin did, helping the elder wash the car and polish it. 

The two got in, Hyunjin taking the drivers seat and Seungmin calling shotgun, and Seungmin asked: “Where exactly are we going?”

Hyunjin grinned, “You’ll see.” 

“ _Please,_ tell me?” 

Seungmin pouted, bottom lip jutting out and looking ever so inviting and all Hyunjin wanted to do right then was kiss the heck out of Seungmin. Again.

So he did, leaning in and slotting his lips perfectly with the youngers as their lips moved against each other. Hyunjin swiped his tongue over Seungmin’s bottom lip and the younger gasped in surprise against Hyunjin’s lip and that caused the elder to giggle into the kiss. They separated, eventually, and Seungmin was flushing red:

“I guess I can take that for an answer.” he muttered, and Hyunjin chuckled affectionately as he keyed the ignition. “You want aux cord privileges?” 

Seungmin nodded, “Oh my gosh I love you.”

“I love you too, pup.” 

Off they went, with Day6’s _I Like You_ blasting at full volume. Seungmin sang along, as the wind their hair blew every which way. Hyunjin joined in the singing, watching the grin grow on Seungmin’s face as they screeched the song. 

“Care to tell me where we’re going now?” Seungmin asked (read: yelled) as they sped down the roads. Hyunjin grinned, “The beach.”

“The beach!” Seungmin exclaimed in excitement.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon thirty minutes later as Hyunjin parked the car in a parking lot nearby the beach. Day6’s _When You Love Someone_ had just wrapped up - with convenient timing, Hyunjin might add - as he switched the engine off. Hyunjin glanced over at Seungmin whose hair had been tousled by the wind, and his heart melted at the sight of the excited twinkle in his eyes.

Seungmin glanced over at Hyunjin, before bursting into a fit of giggles:

“Your hair!” he gasped, shoulders shaking. Hyunjin glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror. His long hair was blown every which way, kind of like a messy lion’s mane. Hyunjin sang between quiet snickers, “It looks like a lion”.

“I’m a queen like a lion,” Seungmin sang in return. The two quickly climbed out of their car and Seungmin flung his arms out and took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the beachy air. Meanwhile, Hyunjin popped open the boot of the car, pulling out a picnic basket and smirking, “Surprise~” he sang, and Seungmin gasped in delight for the nth time that day, “A picnic!” 

“A picnic,” Hyunjin confirmed as he pulled out a blanket. Seungmin skipped over and offered to hold one of Hyunjin’s things so his hands weren’t too full, so Hyunjin gladly handed him the quilt as the two made their way down to the beach. 

“What a view,” Hyunjin commented and Seungmin agreed, “It’s even better with you in it.” 

Hyunjin gasped in surprise: 

“Did you just use a cheesy pickup line?” 

Seungmin looked away before looking back at Hyunjin with his lips devilishly twitching upwards.

“You’re not the only one with tricks up your sleeve.” 

With that, Seungmin shook out the quilt and laid it on the soft sand while Hyunjin watched the younger, mouth agape. The blonde had already plopped down on the quilt, legs outstretched as he motioned his boyfriend over.

Hyunjin snapped out of his Seungmin-induced daze and sat down next to Seungmin, before taking on a fancy tone in his voice, smiling teasingly at the younger.

“Seungmin-ssi,” Hyunjin started, “Would you like to know today’s menu?” 

“I would like that, yes,” Seungmin replied, playing along with the formalities. Hyunjin nodded and opened his picnic basket, pulling out food and setting it on the quilt as he told Seungmin what exactly each thing was.

“We have some kimchi fried rice, and there’s a fried egg on yours.” 

Seungmin’s grin grew wider, “My favorite.” 

“Yep! And we also have some Sprite and some sweet mochi for dessert!” Hyunjin announced.

“Ooh!”

“I know! The mochi sounds great, right?” 

“Hell yeah. Let’s chow.”

With that, the two popped open the tupperware containers of food that Hyunjin had brought and began to dig in, letting out surprised “mmm!” ‘s at the tastiness of their dinner. Once the initial ravenous devouring had subsided and the two were eating at a normal pace, Seungmin sprang into a story about some street dancers he saw in LA and how he thought of Hyunjin the entire time they performed, even when they dragged Seungmin into their choreography to allow him to try it out. Hyunjin was listening with interest, yet his mind was consumed with how _adorable_ Seungmin looked when he was excited. His eyes would hold a childish sparkle in them, his nose would scrunch affectionately sometimes, and his lips would curl cutely upwards, like a happy puppy, as the boy would ramble a mile a minute.

Everytime he saw Seungmin so excitable and passionate, he’d only fall deeper in love with the younger. Hyunjin was pretty sure he reached the point of no return a long time ago. He was committed to Seungmin, and he knew that Seungmin felt the same way.

“Yeah, I ended up losing my balance and falling, but it was fun! I want to go there with you one day, and we could street dance together. It’ll be fun!” Seungmin finished, before taking another bite of his fried egg. 

“You’re so cute.” Hyunjin replied, “Of course, we’re going to do that one day. We have our whole lives ahead of us. We’re going to do a lot of crazy things.” 

Seungmin’s eyes widened at the prospect of being with Hyunjin forever, before they crinkled into soft crescents: 

“Yeah,” he agreed.

* * *

The couple had found their little picnic meal to be extremely delicious (especially the mochi, they ended up feeding it to each other), and now they were watching the sun disappear completely over the horizon. Hyunjin had his arm slung around Seungmin’s shoulder as the younger leaned into him comfortably, engaging in conversation about his time in LA and Hyunjin’s time without him. 

“God, it was the worst,” Hyunjin sighed, “I always overslept because you weren’t there to wake me up. And you weren’t there for me to cuddle at night.”

“Aw,” Seungmin cooed, “Well, your wake up call and cuddle buddy isn’t leaving for a while, now.” 

Hyunjin smiled softly as he pressed a kiss to Seungmin’s hair as the last bit of sun disappeared behind the horizon. Hyunjin started:

“So, you ready for what’s next?”

“Next?” Seungmin asked, confused, “You mean there’s more than the beach?”

Hyunjin nodded, “Oh there’s plenty more than the beach.” 

“Oh,” Seungmin said simply, “Should we get going then?”

Hyunjin nodded, “If you want to, pup.” 

Seungmin nodded cutely, signaling that they should probably get going for Hyunjin’s next part of the date. Hyunjin sprang to his feet, reaching out his hand to help pull Seungmin up. Seungmin huffed. 

“I can get up myself, Jin.”

“But today, you’re my prince. I’m going to shower all the love in the world on you.” Hyunjin replied affectionately, using Seungmin’s nickname for the elder against him.

Seungmin flushed red and Hyunjin smiled, kissing Seungmin on the cheek. “You’re adorable.”

“No, you are.” Seungmin retorted.

* * *

To Seungmin’s surprise, Hyunjin had decided to go on a lengthy drive back to downtown Seoul, but what wasn’t surprising was that even though it was 10 o’ clock in the night, the streets were still bustling with life. Seungmin always loved to observe people going about their business. It was calming for him. 

Hyunjin parked Scarlet the convertible in a parking garage and the two ventured their way out into the city, fingers idly intertwined between them. Seungmin glanced over at Hyunjin and saw everything he loved shine in Hyunjin’s eyes. The colorful neon lights bouncing off Hyunjin’s dark irises made his eyes look like some kind of fantasy land, one that Seungmin would kill to get lost in. He and Hyunjin walked in comfortable silence before his boyfriend piped up.

“So you’re not curious where we’re going?” Hyunjin asked, slightly surprised the younger hadn’t given him the “Seungminnie meong” eyes and forced him to spill all his ideas for the date, thoughts about his life and ambitions for their relationship.

Seungmin’s lips curled up softly as he gently shook his head,

“Surprise me.”

* * *

Hyunjin was proud to say he knew Seungmin like the back of his right hand, proven when he took Seungmin to their favorite ice cream parlor in all of Downtown Seoul - Red Velvet, a small building whose interior looked straight out of some kind of K-pop girl group music video. Seungmin and Hyunjin both were good friends with the owners, two best friends named Wonpil and Wendy who met over a love for creme anglaise. 

Seungmin’s giddy smile upon realizing they were going to Red Velvet was enough for Hyunjin to know that his surprise worked. 

They pushed open the door, which chimed as it swung open and a puppy-like brunette from behind the counter grinned a boxy smile, looking up.

“Jinnie! Minnie! Long time no see!” he greeted with a lopsided smile.

“Wait, Wonpil, did you say Jinnie and Minnie?” A voice shrieked from the employee break room, before a frazzled blonde woman burst into the restaurant.

"Yes, Wendy, I said Jinnie and Minnie. Why did you break the door again?" Wonpil sighed.

"Sorry!" Wendy apologized sheepishly, before directing her focus to the couple, "Shall I scoop you your usual?"

Seungmin nodded, "That would be great!"

Wendy set to work to scoop a Mint Chocolate Chip cone and a Cookies and Cream cup while Wonpil talked to Seungmin, the younger conversing excitedly about his time in LA. Hyunjin smiled fondly. The two went here on their first date back and were regulars at Red Velvet ever since. Just thinking about how much he and Seungmin had broken out of their shells since junior year made Hyunjin think back to how he and Seungmin had fallen in love and his heart fluttered at the memory.

_[ If I could give you the world tonight, then I would and still give you all my time. And I’d be rich, ‘cause love is everything. So just take this chance. I got it all planned.]_

_March 2016_

A sixteen year old Hyunjin, in all his train-track teethed, lonesome glory, wandered into his Korean History class for the first time in junior year, the apotheosis of his high school career, and he immediately flooped over in defeat when he saw the teacher, Jae, a hip teacher who let kids call him by his first name, had put a seating chart on the first day of class. (Maybe Jae was a boomer at heart, Hyunjin thought. He would later be proved wrong). 

What Hyunjin found to be even worse was that Jae didn’t even seat Hyunjin next to his marching band acquaintances, where he could complain about being the school’s star tuba player. ( He didn’t necessarily have a best friend he had hoped to be placed next to either. Sure, he had connections, but none of those connections were deep). Instead, Jae had placed Hyunjin next to the school’s third ranker, Kim Seungmin. Hyunjin never liked the pretentious smart kids - he thought they were uptight and had a God complex, and he wanted nothing more than to stay away from them and mind his own business. 

Unfortunately, Hyunjin had to suck it up and deal with it, so he slunked over to the seat next to Kim Seungmin’s and plopped down. (To his dismay, the desks were arranged in pairs set apart from each other, so Hyunjin couldn’t converse with anyone else if he wanted to). He never really knew Kim Seungmin- the younger boy had been in his class quite a few times, but Hyunjin had never really taken the time to associate with him. The first thing he noticed about his new seat partner was that Seungmin had the most stereotypical smart kid coke-ring glasses. The second thing he noticed was that the boy looked like a curious chocolate labrador retriever. Hyunjin felt slightly weary of that. 

“Hi,” Seungmin greeted with a smile once Hyunjin settled down, and Hyunjin was confused. A pretentious smart kid actually wanted to associate with him? Him, Hwang Hyunjin, who had a straight B record throughout high school - a kid with a painfully average IQ? Scandalous. 

“Hi?” Hyunjin squeaked. _Off to a great start, Hwang._

Seungmin giggled, “You’re Hyunjin right?” 

Hyunjin nodded, “Yeah. Nice to meet you.” 

_End the conversation! End it! He’s here to suck your soul out!_

“Excited for this subject?” Seungmin prodded and Hyunjin internally screamed. Why must he interrogate Hyunjin like this? 

“Not really,” Hyunjin started, “Not a history person.” 

Seungmin nodded understandingly, “Me neither. English is way better.”

Well, Hyunjin had to give Seungmin a little credit - he didn’t expect the brunette to favor English, for English required creativity and critical thinking and not rote memorization like other classes. Hyunjin’s personal favorite subject was English as well, so of course, the logical thing to do was definitely squealing over how English was the superior subject. 

“I definitely wouldn’t expect that from you,” Hyunjin chuckled and Seungmin nodded understandingly, “I know, people expect me to be some kind of history geek, but I prefer English way more. I love reading.” 

“Same!” Hyunjin exclaimed, “There are so many good books out there. What’s your favorite?” 

“Ah, it’s this one I recently read, um, _Simon versus the Homo Sapiens Agenda_? You can give it a try if you want.” Seungmin stuttered with a shy, crooked grin. Hyunjin nodded, “I’ll give it a shot! You should try the Murder on the Orient Express, if you haven’t already.”

Seungmin giggled,”I’ll try that book! This is like an unofficial book club.”

Hyunjin nodded with an excited, brace-faced grin, “Let it be one. We can give each other book recs!” 

Seungmin opened his mouth to reply but was startled and interrupted by Jae clapping his hands and screaming “brrraatatata!” at the top of his lungs to get the class’s attention. Seungmin and Hyunjin, being obedient kids, directed their attention towards Jae, thus ending their first encounter.

Hyunjin would later find out that _Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda_ was a young adult LGBTQ novel. He had read it in its entirety and also checked out the sequel, _Leah on the Offbeat_ and read it in its entirety as well. He was frankly surprised that Seungmin was okay with reading about gay relationships. Hyunjin had never really thought that the younger would be so progressive, and he hadn’t really thought that he’d be okay with this kind of stuff as well, but then again his only fellow tuba player in the marching band, Changbin, had a boyfriend, Wooyoung, so Hyunjin guessed he was okay with the LGBTQ community from the start. He just didn’t associate with them.

* * *

Hyunjin honestly should have expected the next discovery he’d make about the mysterious Kim Seungmin - that he was gay. 

That day, right before lunch, he found Seungmin in the hallway, walking alone with earbuds plugged in and hands shoved in his pockets, and he happily bounded his way over to the younger.

“Seungmin-ah!” He called. Upon hearing his name, Seungmin turned around and smiled when he saw Hyunjin heading towards him. The younger paused his music and greeted Hyunjin. “Hyunjin-hyung!” 

  
“Please, just call me Hyunjin. We’re relatively the same age.” Hyunjin smiled and Seungmin nodded, “What’s up?” 

“I finished the book you recommended.” Hyunjin grinned like a typical shonen anime protagonist. 

“You did?” Seungmin gasped, “That’s great, because I finished your book too! How was it?” 

“I liked it,” Hyunjin replied nonchalantly as the two began to stroll down the hallway together, “Didn’t expect it to be LGBTQ, but it was really sweet and heartwarming! Hilarious too.” 

“Glad you liked it!” Seungmin said, “I don’t know, that book was really special to me so I’m just, like, really excited that you like it.”

Hyunjin cocked his head in confusion, prompting the shorter brunette next to him to elaborate, if he was comfortable. Seungmin didn’t seem to mind, explaining: 

“Ah, you see, that book made me feel not alone in liking who I like, you know?” 

It took a second for the neurons in Hyunjin’s brain to make a connection, but when he did, he gasped before lowering his volume to a hushed whisper. “You’re gay?”

Seungmin nodded cutely. “Yeah.” 

“How come no one else knows? Or cares?” Hyunjin gasped and Seungmin tried to hold in a laugh as best as he possibly could, “I don’t have friends, Hyunjin. I have my best friend Jisung, and I have you, if you consider me as one. I don’t really want to make it known outside my circle because it’s really no one’s business.” 

Hyunjin’s heart melted; he found it endearing how the younger boy already considered him as a friend despite only meeting him a week ago. Honestly, he got along well with Seungmin and would consider him as a friend any day. 

“I consider you as a friend!” Hyunjin nodded, “Glad you trust me with this stuff.” 

“Speaking of friends, do you want to eat lunch with Jisung and me?” Seungmin offered. Hyunjin nodded, “Sure!” 

(Hyunjin would soon realize that he had a tough time getting along with Jisung. However, he’d still consider the annoying boy as a good friend).

* * *

The next thing Hyunjin learned about Seungmin was more intentional than his other discoveries - Seungmin was (and still is) a _huge_ myday. 

It had been a month or two since the two met and started eating lunch together and talking far more often in Korean History. Homecoming was rolling around in a few weeks, and Hyunjin’s tuba playing was slowly improving for the big game. That day, Hyunjin found Seungmin in the cafeteria alone, listening to music as he nibbled on some rice.

Hyunjin didn’t hesitate to slide into the seat next to Seungmin. 

“Minnie~” he sang, and Seungmin quickly tugged out his earbuds, “Hi, Hyunjin!” 

“Where’s the idiot?” Hyunjin asked pointedly, gesturing across their table of three to where Jisung would usually sit. Seungmin shrugged with a smile, answering Hyunjin’s question before nibbling on his rice again “He’s faking sick to bail out of an English exam today.” 

Hyunjin’s jaw dropped.

“We have an English exam today?” he asked, in disbelief. Seungmin glanced off into the distance thoughtfully, “You have Mr. Kang for English, right?”

Hyunjin nodded, and Seungmin smiled. “Same. Our exam is later this week.” 

“Phew.” Hyunjin sighed in relief, clutching the fabric of his hoodie near his heart. Seungmin giggled, “What if it was today?” 

“Then I’d be asking you to give a eulogy at my funeral.” Hyunjin joked. Seungmin let out a nasally laugh, one that Hyunjin found frankly adorable, before the two fell in silence, munching on their food in sync. Hyunjin didn’t mind the silence - it was comfortable, but he wanted to have a conversation today. So, he turned to Seungmin and asked:

“What were you listening to? Like, before I came?” 

Seungmin flushed a deep red as he rubbed his neck awkwardly, words stumbling out of his lips. 

“It’s okay, you can’t be worse than me.” Hyunjin soothed. “If you’re ashamed of being a fanboy or something, I’m a huge ahgase.” 

That seemed to calm Seungmin down, as the younger boy ended up sheepishly admitting: “I was listening to Day6. I’m a huge myday, and I literally never shut up about our lord and savior Park Sungjin.” 

Hyunjin watched Seungmin shyly avert his gaze to his rice, in fear of judgement from the elder, but all Hyunjin could think of was _why_ Seungmin would be so afraid of his peers. Were their classmates really that shallow to just use Seungmin for his grades and then judge him for his interests? 

Hyunjin chose not to stand for that. Seungmin was an amazing person, and he wanted to make sure that Seungmin knew that as well. 

“Hey, hey,” he said soothingly, placing his large hand on Seungmin’s shoulder. Seungmin startled, looking Hyunjin in the eye. Hyunjin smiled kindly, “I’m never going to judge you for what you like. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m your friend, and you’re mine, and I’ll always be there to support you.” 

Seungmin beamed as he gave Hyunjin a quick hug, “Thanks, Jinnie.”

_Jinnie._ The nickname echoed in Hyunjin’s head. He quite liked it. He hugged Seungmin back as his heart swelled with pride and affection for his best friend. 

He was able to make Seungmin smile like that, and that felt freaking fantastic.

He wanted to always make Seungmin feel that way. 

* * *

You’d obviously expect Hyunjin to learn something new because of Kim Seungmin, and that he did. He learnt that he absolutely hated having seats changed in Korean History. 

It had been another week or so, and Hyunjin excitedly sauntered into the Korean History classroom, only for his face to fall when he saw half the class crowded around the blackboard and Seungmin sitting on the other side of his classroom instead of his original seat. 

He gave Seungmin a questioning look and Seungmin smiled sadly and mouthed ‘ _new seating chart’,_ pointing at the board, and Hyunjin’s heart felt as if it was on the Tower of Terror in Disney Land, falling towards its doom. 

He sulked over to the seating chart, similar to how he had sulked over to the seat next to Seungmin’s on the first day of school. The crowd parted, students heading to their new seats excitedly and Hyunjin had space to read the board. This time, Jae had placed him next to Changbin’s boyfriend, Wooyoung. Hyunjin didn’t particularly mind - the cheerleader was very sassy and a (teensy weensy) bit ditzy, but he was good natured. He glanced at the chart to see which lucky bastard got placed next to Seungmin, and visibly deflated when he saw it was some dense football jock named Jiho. 

Hyunjin despised Jiho. He’d make fun of the marching band ( _especially_ the tuba players) and since his parents owned the school, he could cheat his way to being in the class’ top 10 without getting caught. 

Freaking nepotism. 

Throughout that class period, Hyunjin shot glares that drilled into the back of Jiho’s gelled hair. Everytime Jiho would lean over to bother Seungmin about what was happening in class because the boy was too busy snapchatting people instead of paying attention, Hyunjin’s blood boiled. Everytime he caught a glimpse of the uncomfortable look on Seungmin’s face, he had to bite back the urge to punch Jiho square in the nose. Instead he resorted to gripping his wooden pencil so hard and snapping it in half. The class went silent as Jae’s eyes fell upon Hyunijn. His eyebrow raised in amusement before he turned back to the blackboard.

Wooyoung tapped Hyunjin on the shoulder once Jae continued his lecture, whispering: 

“Hey man, is everything okay?” 

Hyunjin nodded and said through a forced smile with gritted teeth, “Everything’s just spectacular.” 

(Everything wasn’t spectacular).

Hyunjin didn’t think Jiho had the right to even be around Seungmin. Seungmin was the sweetest, cutest kid he’d ever met in his life and he didn’t deserve to be stepped on like a doormat. He was intelligent, and Hyunjin respected that, unlike Seungmin’s new seatmate. Jiho wouldn’t bother learning what Seungmin liked. Hyunjin did bother - Seungmin was his closest friend.

His mind settled on a decision quite quickly, on what he was going to do about this whole Jiho situation: he was going to march up to Jae after school, when the teacher was on crossing guard duty, and demand a seat change for himself, so he could sit next to Seungmin, or at least a seat change for Seungmin so he didn’t have to be bothered by Jiho. 

* * *

Hyunjn’s plan didn’t quite work out the way he expected, and this time, he learned something new about himself. 

After the bell rang and the students began to file out the door, Hyunjin hastily shoved his Korean History textbook in his knapsack before slinging it over his shoulder and marching out of the classroom.

However, instead of heading to second period, Hyunjin’s plans ended up being thwarted when Jae called out Hyunjin’s name. 

“Hyunjin, may I talk to you real fast?” 

Hyunjin nodded, walking over to Jae’s desk where Jae had pulled up a chair next to it, one where Hyunjin could sit and talk to the teacher.

“Sir, I’m going to be la-”

“I’ll write you a pass.” 

_Okay then,_ Hyunjin thought as he sat down in the chair. Jae flopped down into his desk chair and folded his hands on the desk before giving Hyunjin a look of concern.

“Alrighty. What was up with you in class today, kiddo?” 

Hyunjin’s eyes widened. _Wait what?_

“I don’t understand what you mean, sir?”

Jae chuckled, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“You know,” he started, “You staring daggers into Jiho’s head and snapping your pencil. Like, dude, I totally get it, he’s the reason why nepotism exists in this school, but there’s no need for murderous intents in my hippie minecraft classroom.”

“Hippie minecraft classroom?” Hyunjin asked, attempting to dodge Jae’s question. Jae raised an eyebrow at Hyunjin, nonverbally telling the boy to not evade the question and talk to him. Hyunjin sighed. “I guess I don’t like my new seat.”

“Did you have a lot of fun with Seungmin?” Jae asked, leaning back in his chair and nodding empathetically. 

Hyunjin nodded, “And now, he just seems so uncomfortable next to Jiho.” 

Jae nodded, “I noticed that. I’m planning to change his seat, but why were you angry that he was uncomfortable?”

Hyunjin thought for a minute or two, wondering why in the world he would be angry over something so trivial, and Jae piped up again, looking Hyunjin dead in the eye.

“Do you think maybe you’re jealous that Seungmin’s sitting with someone else?” 

Hyunjin eyes widened as he flushed red and began stammering (mainly because Jae hit the nail straight on the head). “N-no! Why would I be jealous?! I don’t control Seungmin’s life!” 

Jae gently rested his hand on top of Hyunjin’s hand. “Think about it. If you ever need to talk, my door’s open. For now, I’ll change yours and Seungmin’s seats so they’re next to each other. Just don’t get _too_ chatty.”

Hyunjin nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

“Please, just call me Jae! Sir sounds so _old_.” 

* * *

Hyunjin ended up thinking about it for the entire day before deciding to call Jisung after school. The younger frenemy of Hyunjin’s was _actually_ at home sick this time (and fortunately got to bail out of a Calculus exam). 

Jisung picked up after leaving Hyunjin waiting alone with the sound of the ringtone for a solid minute, coughing before asking,“What do you want, you bastard?” 

“Can we talk?” Hyunjin asked. 

“Oh my gosh, if you’re going to confess your feelings to me, I’m rejecting you right now.” Jisung said stuffily and Hyunjin huffed out a exasperated breath before scoffing, “I’m straight”. 

Jisung snorted, “Yeah, sure, whatever you want. What’s up, dude?” 

Hyunjin sighed before jumping straight into his rant. “Okay, so today has been a borderline shitty day.”

“Deserve.”

“Shut up.” 

Jisung went silent, which indicated to Hyunjin that he should keep talking. “Alrighty, so we got seat changes in History today.” 

“Ew, hate it when that happens.” 

“I know, right?! And Seungmin got stuck with pretentious Mr. Nepotism.”

“Jiho? Ouch.” Jisung commented before bursting into a fit of hacks and wheezes. Once it subsided Hyunjin laughed, “You almost lost a lung there, buddy.” 

“Shut up. Keep talking.” Jisung huffed. 

“Right,” Hyunjin continued, “So, Jiho was bothering Minnie, Minnie looked really uncomfortable and, I don’t know, I think I got angry? I just thought that it should be me sitting next to him, because Seungmin’s comfortable around me, and I got a little triggered, I guess. Jae noticed, so he talked to me after class, told me I was jealous and told me to think about it? But what’s there to think about? I wasn’t jealous.”

Jisung cleared his throat from the other end of the line: “Mind if I interrupt dude?”  
  


“Go ahead.” 

“I think Jae’s right.” Jisung pointed out, Hyunjin opened his mouth to protest but Jisung kept trucking on, “I think I might know why, too.”

  
“Really? Why?” Hyunjin challenged. 

“You like Seungmin.” 

Silence filled the air as Jisung’s words registered in Hyunjin’s brain and Hyunjin immediately screeched out in denial, saying that he was _straight_. He can’t go around liking boys!

“God, you’re dense.” Jisung wheezed, “You’re always trying to make him happy, and you get jealous and/or protective when Seungmin’s uncomfortable around other people. Don’t you want to keep doing that?”

“Well yeah,” Hyunjin admitted, “Minnie’s an amazing person, adorable too, and he deserves to be happy and comfortable for the rest of his life, and I want to try my best to help him feel that way!” 

“Uh huh.” Jisung drawled, before adding, “Don’t you feel some kind of rush, a fluttery feeling, or something like that when you’re around Minnie?” 

“Y-yeah? Why?”

Jisung remained silent to let Hyunjin reflect on what he just said. 

“Oh crap. Do I really like Seungmin?”  
  
“You figured it out!” Jisung cheered sarcastically

“B-but I’m not gay?” Hyunjin stammerd as he anxiously ran his hand through his hair, before his hand fell and rested at his hip. 

“You don’t have to be gay!” Jisung reassured, clearing his throat so his voice didn’t sound like a dying cat, “Sexuality is a fluid thing, Hyunjin! There are some people out there who prefer liking the opposite gender, but have liked someone of the same gender before. You can call it bisexuality but it’s not mandatory to! It’s completely normal. Just think about what you want to or don’t want to call yourself as, and if you really want to pursue something with Seungmin, I’ll help you out.” 

“Really?” Hyunjin murmured. 

“Of course, you idiot. You’d probably do something stupid on your own, and I’m literally the president of the Hyunjin idiocy prevention squad. Welcome to your somewhat gay awakening.”

Hyunjin didn’t hesitate to hang up. 

* * *

_April 2017_

Hyunjin was 100% sure that Seungmin didn’t feel the same way, and he prayed vigorously in the hopes that his confession (when he did it) wouldn’t be an awkward mess, but regardless of the outcome, you’d never know if you never tried. 

With that, it took Hyunjin exactly a year to confess, despite his whole belief of taking a shot. His elaborate Scheme to Get Seungmin Feeling The Same Way™ was to get closer to Seungmin until he felt like he had won the younger over. That way, he also had time to come to terms with himself.

By the time Hyunjin felt ready to confess in his senior year, he had outed himself to his family and friends (including Seungmin) as a raging bisexual. Everyone was surprisingly super supportive of his sexuality and his identity, and were proud of him for discovering himself. (If only more people were like that.)

Now, for Step 2: Confessing.

Hyunjin had talked to Jisung about where he was planning to confess his feelings and adoration for Seungmin, and Jisung had provided great advice (despite vehemently judging Hyunjin) and suggested inviting Seungmin to the homecoming game, the last one of Hyunjin’s high school career, and then confessing in some grand gesture in the middle of the playing field. 

Hyunjin decided to give it a shot. Seungmin preferred not going to sporting events, so he would probably turn the elder down, but as Hyunjin liked to believe: it never hurt to try.

Unfortunately, Seungmin did end up rejecting Hyunjin’s invitation to the game, saying he probably wouldn’t be in the mood to go, and apologizing in advance to Hyunjin; Hyunjin’s plans to profess his love were inevitably foiled. That was, until Jisung and his nosy ass prodded into Hyunjin’s heart and feelings and reassured him, telling him to go to the homecoming game and “blow the tuba the best he can”, and that he’d take care of the rest.

Hyunjin reluctantly complied. 

He was taking shaky breaths as he changed into his XXX high school marching band uniform, and his palms were sweating as he warmed up scales on the tuba.

When it was time to perform in the halftime show, he walked out on the field with dignity, his eyes scanning the crowd before they fell on Jisung. Jisung waved with a smirk as Hyunjin’s eyes traveled to the seat next to the squirrely boy’s and his eyes widened when he saw Seungmin sitting. The brunette waved at Hyunjin from the stands and gave him a thumbs up.

_That idiot actually got Minnie to come._ Hyunjin thought, impressed.

With that, the band got into position and performed. Hyunjin was too busy focusing on performing so he (unfortunately) couldn’t gauge Seungmin’s reactions. (Later on, however, he’d hear from Jisung that Seungmin eyes were sparkling brightly, and that he was in awe of Hyunjin’s performance. Jisung would also later comment he had no idea what Seungmin even saw in the elder, and Hyunjin would also later smack Jisung upside the head.)

After the game, Seungmin and Jisung made their way down to the playing field to compliment (or diss, in Jisung’s case) Hyunjin’s playing, and Hyunjin happily greeted the two. (Even Jisung, you heard me right).

The conversation between the three of them subsided, and Jisung took that as a cue to slink off somewhere nearby, and maybe flirt with some dude while keeping an eye on the tea between Hyunjin and Seungmin. So he did, slinking off to some bored junior with invisaligns who was clicking through snapchat. (Jisung would later have that same bored junior as one of his two boyfriends, but that’s a story for another time. Right then, Hyunjin was about to confess to Seungmin).

Hyunjin started the conversation back up again, “I thought you weren’t going to come!” 

Seungmin nodded, “Yeah, but then Jisung told me to get a life and get out of the house so I came. Plus, I couldn’t miss one of my best friend’s final homecoming performance!”

Hyunjin smiled, ruffling Seungmin’s hair, “You’re so cute.” 

“Gah, you’re flattering me, stop it!” Seungmin pouted and Hyunjin removed his hand from Seungmin’s hair.

Now was the time to spill the beans. Spill the secret crush that Hyunjin had been harboring for a year. Spill the truth.

He realized he probably shouldn’t be doing this in his pompous marching band uniform with a hat that looked like a royal blue box of Quaker Oats, but there was no turning back now. So Hyunjin took the leap. 

“I’m glad you came though.” He started. “I wanted to tell you something.”

Seungmin’s lips pursed into a small “o” in surprise before he nodded, “Shoot.”

“A-alrighty, I guess I wanna start off by saying thank you.”

  
“Thank you?” Seungmin questioned.

“Yeah. I never really had a best friend before I met you, so I’m really grateful that you and I, and even Jisung became best friends, and I’d really like it to stay that way for a long time.”

Seungmin smiled gently, “Of course, it’ll stay that way. 5 years from now we’ll still be best friends, I promise you that!” 

Hyunjin beamed in response: “Glad to hear that. I’d also like to thank you, because in such a short span of time you’ve really changed my life. Remember how I came out as bi?” 

“Yeah,” Seungmin nodded, “Of course I do!” 

“That was because of you,” Hyunjin continued and Seungmin’s eyes widened in surprise, “Ever since we met, I felt that you were different than other boys I’ve met before. You helped me come to terms with myself, and I realized that I like boys because of you, Minnie. It’s because I like you, Minnie, as more than a friend, and it’s completely okay if you don’t feel the same way. I don’t want anything to be awkward between us, but I just wanted to get that out there- _mmph!_ ”

Throughout his rambling, Hyunjin didn’t notice an affectionate smile begin to grow on Seungmin’s face as the elder admitted to having liked Seungmin for the past year, and by the time the ravenette reached the end of his spiel, Seungmin burst forward on his tiptoes, and crashed his lips against Hyunjin, causing Hyunjin to let out a surprised, muffled yelp.

Hyunjin realized that Seungmin was kissing him a mere few seconds later, and began to kiss back, wrapping his arms around Seungmin’s slender waist as Seungmin’s arms found their way and loosely wrapped themselves around Hyunjin’s neck. 

Hyunjin could hear Jisung screaming at the brace-faced junior he was talking to, crying over how his two best friends were finally _kissing_ , but like many conversations with the younger boy, Hyunjin chose to tune Jisung out. What mattered right now was that Seungmin was actually kissing Hyunjin and it felt amazing. Hyunjin felt goosebumps prickle on the sweaty skin on the back of his neck, and a tingle run down his spine. 

Right there and then, Hyunjin swore that no matter how many times Seungmin kissed him, he’d never get over it. 

They seperated and Seungmin grinned at the elder, “Does that answer your confession?” 

Hyunjin nodded, “Yeah, it does. So when should our first date be?” 

“What about tonight?” 

“Works for me.”

That’s how Hyunjin and Seungmin found themselves at the quiet Red Velvet ice cream parlor, instead of the stinky gymnasium for the homecoming dance, wearing hoodies and ripped jeans instead of stuffy formal suits, talking to the owners Wonpil and Wendy and sharing soft kisses with each other in between bites of ice cream. They decided to dance, slotting a coin into the colorful vintage jukebox in the corner of the parlor, and choosing to play Frank Sinatra’s _The Way You Look Tonight,_ before taking each others’ hands and dancing the night away in the middle of the small shop, with Wonpil and Wendy watching the couple fondly from behind the counter.

Since then, Seungmin had ditched his roundframe glasses for contact lenses, and had dyed his hair basically the entire rainbow before settling on blonde. Hyunjin had gotten his braces off, and had grown his hair out to his neck. They grew taller, their voices got a little deeper, but despite all the physical changes, their adoration for each other in their hearts stayed true. 

[ _We’ll park and lay down on the hood of my car, listening to the airplanes as we count the stars. Tonight I’ll be your man, and tomorrow we can do it again.]_

_August 2022_

“Hyunjin.”

“Jinnie.”

“Hyunjin Sam Hwang.” 

“Hwang Hyunjin, are you alive?” 

“Huh?” 

Hyunjin snapped out of his flashback induced daze to see Seungmin standing and looking concerned in front of him, with a cup of Cookies and Cream ice cream in one hand and a slightly melty Mint Chocolate Chip cone in the other.

“You good?” Seungmin asked gently and Hyunjin smiled at his boyfriend’s caring nature, receiving his ice cream from the shorter boy, “Yeah I’m fine. I was just thinking about the old times, back in high school.”

Seungmin smiled fondly at the memories as he and Hyunjin sat down in one of the two booths in the parlor, “Those were some good times. They still are good times.” 

“Yeah.” Hyunjin sighed as he took a bite of his ice cream, relishing in the dessert’s distinct Red Velvet creaminess. He set his spoon back in the cup and noticed that Seungmin was giving him a strange look. Without a warning, the younger leaned across the plastic red and white striped table, resting his hands on the surface for support, and pecked Hyunjin on the lips. It was quick, painfully quick, and sweet and Hyunjin was taken by surprise. 

“What was that for?” the elder asked as he flushed red. Seungmin giggled, “You had a little ice cream on your mouth. Tastes good by the way.”

“Oh my god, you actually tried being the confident gay.” Hyunjin’s eyes widened and Seungmin gave a small proud nod in return.

“I can be a confident gay, Hwang. Remember _I_ initiated our first kiss?” 

Hyunjin reached across the table and gently cupped Seungmin’s cheek and noticed a blush creeping up Seungmin’s neck as Seungmin’s eyes widened. The ravenette smirked:

“You say that, but you do panicked gay things like this,” he joked and Seungmin pouted, “That wasn’t fair! You surprised me.” 

Hyunjin cackled at Seungmin’s excuse, before beaming at Seungmin like Seungmin lit up the infinite amount of stars in the sky. “God, I love you.”

Seungmin’s pout softened into a small smile as he replied, “I love you too.” 

* * *

Once they had finished eating their ice cream, they had gotten into Scarlet the convertible and Hyunjin had keyed the ignition, ready and raring to go to their third and final destination of the night. Seungmin couldn’t help but wonder what they could _possibly_ be doing next. He was already more than a little tired and thankfully, Hyunjin had set the top over the convertible so the wind wouldn’t be blowing in their faces any more.

Hyunjin only drove for 15 minutes or so before stopping in a field outside the Incheon airport, from which not only were the runways of the airport visible, but also quite a few stars in the sky. Seungmin marveled at the sight - he never knew about this place, but it was mesmerizing. 

Hyunjin got out of the car once he switched the engine off, the ravenette signaling for Seungmin to join him outside. Seungmin complied, climbing out of the car and asking the elder: 

“So now what are we doing?” Seungmin asked and Hyunjin grinned impishly. 

“Watch.” he said before flopping down on the hood of his car, a loud thunk mixing with the sounds of airplanes taking off in the distance and breezes blowing through Seungmin’s hair. Seungmin winced at the painful sound as Hyunjin groaned, rubbing his head.

“I should have thought that through,”Hyunjin remarked weakly and Seungmin giggled as he carefully laid on the hood of Scarlet next to Hyunjin. Hyunjin grabbed Seungmin’s hand and intertwined their fingers, without taking his gaze off the sky. 

“It’s so beautiful up there.” Hyunjin mused. “Do you think life on other planets stargaze as well?” 

Seungmin hummed, “They could be. Sometimes I just like to think we’re in a snowglobe and there are creatures watching us like we watch them. It really makes everything feel so small.”

“It does,” Hyunjin agreed, before calling out to the stars, “Hi people out there! It’s me, Hyunjin!”

“And Seungmin!” Seungmin added, in the midst of a fit of giggles. Hyunjin leaned over and kissed Seungmin gently on the forehead and Seungmin’s nose scrunched cutely, almost like a reflex, before he snuggled into the elder and delivered a kiss to his cheek. 

They laid in silence, admiring the stars shining in the sky (and in each others’ eyes), and listening to the sound of airplanes taking off and landing, cuddling each other and occasionally adding another measure of affection,

“God, I could just stay like this forever” Seungmin sighed as he held on to Hyunjin’s arm like a teddy bear. Hyunjin hummed in agreement. “It’s so peaceful. Makes me want to close my eyes for a while.”

“Mhm,” Seungmin replied as he directed his gaze back up to the sky, looking at the blinking lights of airplanes flying along with the dazzling twinkles of stars hanging from the sky like fairy lights. This just felt so _right_ , so _perfect_ , like all the pieces of Seungmin's life finally came together in one beautiful completed puzzle. He smiled to himself as Hyunjin's fingers found their way to Seungmin's hair, slowly and soothingly carding through it as the stars and airplanes lulled him to sleep.

Seungmin's eyes fluttered shut, with the images of stars and Hyunjin ingrained in his brain, but in the back of his mind he remembered that the two of them almost stopped themselves from being like this. He subconsciously brushed the idea away as he drifted off into the universe in his head- a world of constellations and Hyunjin.

_[ Let's take this moment. It's ours so own it, So come with me don't let it go to waste. No you don't want to, let this miss out on us, I'm telling you regrets don't fade away]_

_December 2021_

When Seungmin had first heard that he had gotten accepted into XXX University’s study abroad program, he was elated, super excited to go to Los Angeles and study for 6 months there. 

  
That feeling lasted for approximately 5 minutes before realization of what Seungmin was going to leave hit the boy like a freight train. What was he going to do about his relationship? He wasn’t one for long distance - he’s heard horror stories of relationships crashing and burning to the ground because of timezone differences and distance problems.

He didn’t think Hyunjin would be happy doing long distance, nor did he think he’d be happy himself. He sighed as he walked down the streets from the university to his and Hyunjin’s shared apartment, the crisp winter air nipping at his ears and fogging up his breath. 

He could only think of one way to go abroad without putting him and Hyunjin through the scary trials of long distance relationships. 

He _so_ didn’t want to do it. 

* * *

“Minnie~ you’re home!” Hyunjin sang from the kitchen as Seungmin entered the apartment, a wave of warmth from the heater attacking him (not that he minded). His heart _ached_ at the fact that after what he was about to do, Hyunjin wouldn’t be greeting him like this when he came home after a long, tiring day.

No, he wasn’t going to pull a yandere and kill Hyunjin. 

“Minnie?” Hyunjin called after Seungmin didn’t reply, “You okay?”. 

Hyunjin appeared from the kitchen with a grin and _God_ , there goes Seungmin’s heart again. 

“Rough day?” Hyunjin asked gently and Seungmin shrugged, “I guess. I have some news for you.” 

“Really?” Hyunjin exclaimed as he ushered Seungmin to their living room, seating Seungmin on the couch as he took a seat on the coffee table across from Seungmin. “Shoot.”

“Okay, um, I got accepted into the study-abroad program,” Seungmin started and Hyunjin gasped in delight, only twisting the knife into Seungmin’s poor heart, “That’s amazing Minnie! You’ve always wanted that!”

Seungmin smiled nervously, “Yeah, but since I’m going to be gone for six months, we need to talk about our relationship.”

Hyunjin nodded, “Okay, what do you need Minnie?” 

Seungmin directed his gaze towards the ground, sucking in a deep breath before meeting Hyunjin’s warm, loving eyes, “I think we should break up.” 

Pin drop silence ensued as Hyunjin looked taken aback. Seungmin could feel the tears beginning to pool in his eyes and he mentally cursed at himself for crying so quickly. He quickly dabbed at his eyes before noticing the look on Hyunjin’s face, and his heart just cracked in half. Tears were already dripping from the elder’s eyes and Seungmin felt _so_ guilty knowing he was the cause of those tears.

“Why?” Hyunjin whispered and Seungmin sighed, “It’s not you or me. I love you so much, but I’m going to a different country, so it’s better if we break up.”

Silence again. Seungmin’s heavy heart was anchoring him to the couch; he stared blankly at the fuzzy socks on his feet. 

“Minnie.” 

Seungmin looked up, about to cry and Hyunjin wiped away his own tears, calming down a bit to talk through this break up rationally

“If it’s not you or me, why do you want to do this? I really don’t want to lose you.” Hyunjin asked sadly and Seungmin’s lip quivered as Hyunjin grabbed his hand gently. 

“It’s for the best, Jinnie.” he replied, voice cracking, and Hyunjin shook his head stubbornly, almost angrily. 

“That’s not the reason at all and you know it.” Hyunjin retorted and Seungmin sighed. 

“Just leave it, Jin. You’ll be better off with someone else while I’m gone.” he said, starting to get up to leave. 

“No.” Hyunjin said grabbing Seungmin’s hand and tugging, effectively stopping the younger from leaving so quickly, “I didn’t pine over you for a solid year and another 5 after that to just throw it all away like this. Talk to me.” 

Seungmin’s shoulders slumped as he released a shaky sigh. 

“I’m scared.” he admitted, voice wobbly.  
  
Hyunjin gently guided Seungmin to sit next to him on the coffee table and Seungmin leaned on Hyunjin’s shoulder. Usually, Seungmin would be the one comforting Hyunjin, but this time, Seungmin wasn’t okay, not one bit, and as Seungmin’s soulmate and boyfriend, Hyunjin was going to do his best to talk Seungmin through what he was feeling, just like the younger had done for him so many times before.

“Why?” he asked gently, rubbing circles on Seungmin’s shoulder. The ravenette noticed tears dripping from Seungmin’s face as he slouched over, which was so unlike how the younger normally was and it hurt to watch. 

“Long distance.” Seungmin sighed between gasps, “From what I heard, it’s destined to fail, and I... I don’t want us to fail like that.”

Hyunjin smiled empathetically as he pulled his boyfriend into a hug, and Seungmin buried his face into the elder’s shoulder. Hyunjin whispered, “Long distance is scary for me too, baby, but we know each other too well to not let our relationship flop like others.”

Seungmin whimpered and Hyunjin continued, “Minnie, honey, look at me.”

Seungmin pulled away from the warmth of Hyunjin’s embrace reluctantly, his trademarked “Seungminnie meong” eyes filled with tears, and Hyunjin soothed him, “Listen Minnie, we dont have to break up. You don’t want to, right?”

A nod came from the younger and Hyunjin continued, “Look, we’re so great together. You know it, I know it, Minho hyung knows it. And I also know we can get through any obstacle together. I want to be with you Minnie, even if you’re a gazillion miles away, I love _you_ and I don’t want to lose you - goddamn it now _I’m_ about to cry.”

Seungmin giggled through his tears and Hyunjin wiped his own away again, taking in a deep breath, before gently kissing Seungmin’s forehead. “We can do this, okay? It’s scary, but we can do it. We’ll call whenever we can, and it’ll be like it always has been - you’re mine, and I’m yours. We can do it.” 

“We can do it,” Seungmin repeated, as a small, comforted smile began to grow on his face, before he pulled Hyunjin in for a hug. Hyunjin didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Seungmin as the two remained in the embrace for a while.

After that, the two created an elaborate plan on how they were going to manage a long-distance relationship for six months: there were going to be calls almost every night Hyunjin’s time, and they’d text each other every night in Seungmin’s time, reminding each other that their love was always going to be there, and their plan worked pretty well, much to their delights. 

Seungmin and Hyunjin realized that no matter what hurdles came their way, they could leap past it, as long as they were there for each other.

* * *

_[I’ll pick you up at eight and we can drive around, I’ll take you to the beach and we can head downtown, while you hold my hand. We’ll park and lay down on the hood of my car, listen to the airplanes as we count the stars, tonight I’ll be your man]_

_August 2022_

Seungmin stirred from his flashback-like dream, awakening to Hyunjin gently shaking him. The elder looked like he had just woken up as well and Seungmin groaned, “Did I konk out?”

Hyunjin chuckled as he delivered a quick peck to Seungmin’s lips, effectively waking up the younger. “You konked out, and so did I. You seemed to be having an interesting dream, though, I didn’t want to wake you up.” 

Seungmin thought back to the memories that returned during his dream and smiled awkwardly, “I guess it was interesting.” 

Hyunjin sat up and Seungmin followed suit, the two stretching out the cricks in their backs from unintentionally falling asleep on the hood of their convertible. Seungmin yawned as he stretched out his arms, before turning to Hyunjin: “Do you have anything else planned for tonight?”

Hyunjin smiled, shaking his head, “I’m so ready to call this a night. It’s midnight anyway, we can go home and _sleep!_ ”

“Sleep!” Seungmin cheered and Hyunjin ruffled his hair as he slid off the hood of the car. Seungmin quickly hopped off and the couple climbed into the car, ready and raring to go to sleep. Hyunjin quickly switched off the ignition and they drove the 20 minutes back to their apartment complex near XXX University (they both were about to go into their Post-Graduate degrees). The ride was silent, with both of them trying their best not to doze off, Seungmin focusing on the cup of melted ice-cream in Hyunjin’s front console cup holder, and Hyunjin focusing on the road so they didn’t crash Scarlet and die. 

When they parked in the apartment complex parking lot, they were quick to get out of the car, climbing up the four flights of stairs to their small, cozy apartment. Seungmin fiddled with his keys, shoving it into the lock and pushing the door open as Hyunjin turned on the warm yellow lights of their apartment. 

“God I’m so ready to pass out,” Seungmin remarked before yawning. Hyunjin yawned as well, as he peeled off his shoes and the two made their way into the bedroom. They somehow managed to resist flopping onto the bed and sleeping in their date night clothes, instead opting to brush their teeth, tie up their hair (in Hyunjin’s case), switch out contacts for glasses (in Seungmin’s case), and change into t-shirts and boxers before they found themselves with their bed before them.

“Hallelujah!” Hyunjin shrieked before flooping onto his side of the bed face first. Seungmin snickered as he removed his thick-framed glasses and flopped on his side of the bed as a response. The two pulled their comforter over their frames as they switched off the lamp in their bedroom, making the room dark and suitable for a nice comfortable sleep. 

Seungmin was already out like a light, and Hyunjin was about to drift off into sleep, his arms snugly wrapped around the youngers small waist. 

The last thought that crossed his mind before he went on a voyage to dreamland was that he was glad Seungmin was back. Sure, Seungmin might be the one physically returning from another country to his home, but Hyunjin knew the two of them didn’t really have a home for the past six months, because home was where they were together.

Now, they were finally back in each others arms. Hyunjin smiled at the thought as he drifted off to sleep. This place, the place where Seungmin would be by his side constantly, was the place where he felt complete, the only place where he felt he belonged and he was sure Seungmin felt the same way about this. 

This was home. 

_[And tomorrow we can do it again.]_

_Fin._

**Author's Note:**

> i beat my writing record again! ~
> 
> i haven't finished editing this fic, but i decided to drop it anyway, so if the last parts aren't coherent those are 2 am ramblings from right now~ i'll fix em soon!
> 
> hope you liked it! please leave a comment and feel free to check out my other works! there are a lot of bdays coming up so expect a lot of content (mainly seungjin) from meeee
> 
> stay safe, hydrate, and don't procrastinate <3


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